Insights for life and relationships!

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 10

Look at what you believe carefully and challenge those beliefs that contribute to keeping you down. What we believe about our self sometimes is old garbage others dumped on us years ago. Believe you are as important and worthwhile as anyone else on earth. Believe your life has value because you are in it. Believe you are worthy because you live, you breathe. Believe you do not have to earn value, love or acceptance. Believe being human and being alive is enough. You do not have to have material wealth. You can just exist and be valuable. There is no such thing as conditional love or conditional positive regard. If conditions are attached then it’s not love and it’s not positive regard. Manipulation is what causes people to believe they owe someone something or they have to earn being liked. Hang around people who like you for who and what you are–whatever it is. Spend time with those who don’t have rules for being friends with them. If you have to pretend, put on an act or show only your good face all the time then there’s going to be too much stress to keep it up. Stress is your enemy. Even though some stress is natural and even helpful, if you can minimize stress then do so. Think long and hard about what you’ve been taught to believe and decide for yourself what you really believe rather than what you’ve been told to believe. At the very least, believe you matter because you do. For additional self-help resources, check out smartrecovery.org.uk: https://www.smartrecovery.org.uk/